Climate change, health, and conflict in Africa's arc of instability

Climate change lies at the heart of many complex humanitarian emergencies and emerging global health challenges, with Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) identified as one of the most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change.1 An arc stretching from Somalia and Eritrea in the east to Mauritania in the west forms a band of countries that are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change (Figure 1).2 This arc experiences a devastating combination of state fragmentation, Islamist insurgency, and climate change, undermining livelihood strategies across the region. A climate injustice exists; despite contributing relatively little to the anthropogenic causes of climate change, individuals living in these countries face the most severe impact

Examining local perspectives on the influence of climate change on the health of Hamer pastoralists and their livestock in Ethiopia

Abstract: This study explores the perceived influence of climate change on the health of Hamer pastoralists and their livestock in south-western Ethiopia. A combination of focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted with Hamer communities as well as local health workers, animal health workers and non-governmental organisation (NGO) staff. Thematic framework analysis was used to analyse the data. Reductions in rangeland, erratic rainfall, recurrent droughts and loss of seasonality were perceived to be the biggest climate challenges influencing the health and livelihoods of the Hamer. Communities were travelling greater distances to access sufficient grazing lands, and this was leading to livestock deaths and increases in ethnic violence. Reductions in suitable rangeland were also precipitating disease outbreaks in animals due to increased mixing of different herds. Negative health impacts in the community stemmed indirectly from decreases in livestock production, uncertain crop harvests and increased water scarcity. The remoteness of grazing lands has resulted in decreased availability of animal milk, contributing to malnutrition in vulnerable groups, including children. Water scarcity in the region has led to utilisation of unsafe water sources resulting in diarrhoeal illnesses. Further, seasonal shifts in climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria were also acknowledged. Poorly resourced healthcare facilities with limited accessibility combined with an absence of health education has amplified the community’s vulnerability to health challenges. The resilience and ambition for livelihood diversification amongst the Hamer was evident. The introduction of camels, increase in permanent settlements and new commercial ideas were transforming their livelihood strategies. However, the Hamer lack a voice to express their perspectives, challenges and ambitions. There needs to be collaborative dynamic dialogue between pastoral communities and the policy-makers to drive sustainable development in the area without compromising the values, traditions and knowledge of the pastoralists

Research strategies for organizational history:a dialogue between historical theory and organization theory

If history matters for organization theory, then we need greater reflexivity regarding the epistemological problem of representing the past; otherwise, history might be seen as merely a repository of ready-made data. To facilitate this reflexivity, we set out three epistemological dualisms derived from historical theory to explain the relationship between history and organization theory: (1) in the dualism of explanation, historians are preoccupied with narrative construction, whereas organization theorists subordinate narrative to analysis; (2) in the dualism of evidence, historians use verifiable documentary sources, whereas organization theorists prefer constructed data; and (3) in the dualism of temporality, historians construct their own periodization, whereas organization theorists treat time as constant for chronology. These three dualisms underpin our explication of four alternative research strategies for organizational history: corporate history, consisting of a holistic, objectivist narrative of a corporate entity; analytically structured history, narrating theoretically conceptualized structures and events; serial history, using replicable techniques to analyze repeatable facts; and ethnographic history, reading documentary sources "against the grain." Ultimately, we argue that our epistemological dualisms will enable organization theorists to justify their theoretical stance in relation to a range of strategies in organizational history, including narratives constructed from documentary sources found in organizational archives. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved

Humanitarianism under attack.

Attacks on humanitarianism are threefold. First, in conflict zones, over the past decade attacks on humanitarian health facilities and personnel are increasingly documented, along with a decline in respect for core humanitarian principles by state and non-state actors, and this will continue. Second, growing instrumentalisation, a failure to adequately fund the sector, antimigrant/refugee populism on the rise and the protracted nature of many crises are provoking a shift away from humanitarian to development healthcare aid over the next decade, intended to keep refugees far away from developed countries by encouraging their integration into immediate neighbouring states. This undermines humanitarian healthcare emergency response capacity. Third, the climate crisis will massively increase humanitarian healthcare needs among the most vulnerable over the next decade and challenge the sector to respond across all its programmes, not least as it absorbs a renewed youthful agency elsewhere in climate protest